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Story : Magus Congressus
The Lower Chamber ;April 21 1220 The rectangular lower room was illuminated by glowing stones set in copper wire baskets hanging from the ceiling. A large, trapezoidal block of stone had been raised from the ground to form a table with a rectangular top. Likewise, cubic pillars had been raised to act as chairs, with a slab of stone along the back to provide some support for the magi as they talk. Some smokeless candles had been lit and spread around the table to provide extra light. Mnemosyne nodded in approval at the progress that had been made in the last couple of days. Ambrosius, Phaedrus and Bedo had worked together very well. She smiled tightly. It was a good sign for the future. If they could work together like this now, then the founding of the covenant was hopeful. She placed some sheaves of vellum on the table as well as some quills and ink from stores she had brought with her. The need for visual aids to describe some of the things her and Ambrosius had discovered was clear in her mind and perhaps the others would feel the same way as well. In any case, some magi might like to make notes. Once this was done, she took the seat nearest the door at the foot of the table, or the head if you preferred to look at it that way. The vellum upon the table still bore faintly scored ruling lines and pricks, and very pale inky blotches from where it had previously been used for other matters, and carefully scraped and powdered for re-use, and glowed in the flickering candle-light and steady cool illumination from the stones above. Ambrosius stepped out from behind a rather plain looking privacy wall in the far back corner. Dressed in his full magus' robes and hand crafted fine steel chain ornamentation, he barely looked like the young man who had been, just the previous day, stripped to the waist cutting and moving stones. His hair was cleaned and slicked back, tied into a braid and wrapped with the same fine steel chain. He was startled for a moment to find Mnemosyne there already, but recovered quickly. He took the seat to the Maga's left. "Good evening, Maga Mnemosyne." he began. "It's good to finally get this meeting underway!" he exclaimed, blowing a breath out noisily. He turned to Mnemosyne. "Actually, before we begin, I wanted to ask if you thought, well, maybe we'd best post a watch in the cottage above...I was thinking of your man, Geraldous, and perhaps Sandor? I'm a bit concerned about these event with the church, and I'd rather they not have the opportunity to barge in while we sit in deep discussion." Marcus joined them as well, dressed as usual in his simple friar's robes. He nodded pleasantly to the pair already seated and took the next available seat. Eirlys entered then. To the eye, ear, and nose, she appeared every bit as fresh and collected as she wasn't. Seemingly dressed in a gown of pale blue silk, with her clean black hair gleaming as it fell over her shoulders, she came in quietly and looked about. Instinctively, she glanced upwards and was relieved to see a skylight leading to the surface. She crossed the table to take the middle seat on the side opposite Ambrosius, and sat towards the front of her stone chair, where she could see the sky. (OOC: Her glamour is a MuIm of third magnitude for the purposes of anyone caring to notice that she in fact looks a bit weary, with hair wild and uncombed, and is wearing only a leather vest with various tools pressed into some odd pockets.) Bedo had made less effort to dress smartly for the meeting, although it was clear that he had washed the day's labours from him. He bustled down into the lower room, carring parchment, pens, and ink. He nodded politely to all present, looked at how the light lit the table, and carefully sat himself down, and set to at sharpening pens. "Have you planned a structure for this meeting Maga?" he asked Mnemosyne. "We have several reports which may be qute complex, about the sites we have visited, and from what I have gathered, the news of the mundane world will also be important. Would it perhaps be worth getting that matter dealt with first, as it may colour the reports we give on our wanderings? Although I am not a great illuminator, I am a reasonably competent scribe, so if you are chairing the meeting I am more than willing to take any notes" "As Quaesitor, I am happy to take the role of chair to our meetings, until we elect one of our number to do so," Mnemosyne acquiesed to Bedo's request. "I think we shall perhaps leave Marcus' report for last as that may in fact take more time the others. First, I shall set the grogs to see that we are undisturbed." She nodded at Ambrosius is acknowledgement of his advice and left the chamber for a short time see give the grogs their neccessary instructions. They were to keep a sharp look out for anyone approaching and were otherwise to be left undisturbed, unless told differently. She also set a guard on the door at the top of the stairs to make matters clear before returning to the chamber. fill in what you like here The Meeting Begins :April 21 1220 When all attending were seated and ready, Mnemosyne raised her open left hand and called for attention. "My fellow sodales, we once more meet to discuss our bold venture. Since we last met but a few days past much has happened which shall be important if we are to make the right decisions in these days ahead, which could have a profound affect on our futures for years to come." "Bedo ex Bonisagus and Phaedrus ex Miscellenius travelled east to investigate the site of Caer Caradoc for its potential as a site for our future covenant. Longinus ex Mercere and Eirlys ex Merinita investigated Hockstow Forest to the north, Ambrosius ex Verditus and myself came west, here to Long Mynd, and Marcus ex Jerbiton looked in around the village of Church Stretton." "I would like to now ask Bedo and Phaedrus to fill us in with the details of their endevours." Mnemosyne lowered her hand and nodded invitingly at Bedo then Phaedrus. Caractacus's fort "Phaedrus - please correct me if I make any mistakes, or miss anything out" Bedo started. "Sodales, The two of us, accompanied by Nenya, the cook, investigated the site of Caractacus's fort, on the top of Caer Caradoc, the sharp-edged hill that sits on the east side of the valley, north-east of Church Stretton. The is a moderate magical aura there, and some interesting features, but for a variety of reasons I shall recommend that we do not establish a covenant there. The prime one of these is that of location. The aura is limited to the area marked out by the ridge that delimits the old hill fort. That area is a long narrow area along the ridge of the hill, and any buildings constructed there would be in full view of the people of Church Stretton and any who pass along the road through the village." He paused, and looked around the group, his gaze resting on Eirlys the longest. "From what I have seen so far of the the reaction of the Bishop of Hereford, I suspect that building a covenant that close to as strictly religious a village as Church Stretton could be troublesome." "Other features I shall summarise, please ask me if you require further details. Water - there is a pool which seems to be more than just rainwater. It bears further investigation, as I feel it may be fed by magic. It might be an adequate water supply - it might not. Access - difficult. It's a steep walk, with no decent track. A proper cart track would need to be built. Neighbours - apart from Church Stretton, we could see other small settlements in the forested hills to the East. It's much closer land over there than up here on the Mynd. Oh, and there's a fell creature lives in a cave in the stream on the way up, who attacked us, and has killed at least one other person. We should investigate it further, and probably destroy her. It might do us some good with Church Stretton. My feeling is that the fort is a place we may find useful, but not one where we should want to live. It also is within sight of this place, should we settle here, so can easily be reached, should we need it." "Apart from that place, we took a look at the castle down the valley to the south. It's quite modern, but seems to be hardly garrisoned. My gess is it was built in case the Welsh attacked this far east, but the troops are currently further west." He sat back, and looked around the group, inviting questions. Ambrosius sat forward, stuttering slightly, "Sodale, you did not mention, ummmm....did either of you have the opportunity to check for the existence of a regio?" "Yes, indeed" Bedo replied "No regio up there, just a reasonable aura, although I could see that there was a regio somewhere over here on the Long Mynd. No others either I could see from up there, although the view was very good." Ambrosius nodded appreciatively. Mnemosyne raised her hand again, drawing attention back to her. "Do you believe this creature to be a danger to the town, and do you think it is magical in nature? What can you tell us about it?" she asked Bedo and Phaedrus. Bedo nodded, and replied, "A black haired woman that lives and breathes under water - some type of hag? She tried to grab me and pull me in, but Phaedrus cast something that loosened her grip for a moment. As to her danger to the vill - she has a corpse there, but it may well be someone who tried to cross the stream as we did. We left what we could as markers to warn people away, but didn't see how we could warn the village, even via Marcus, without explaining what we were doing there." ---- Category:1220 1220Q2 12200421 Category:Mnemosyne Category:Ambrosius Category:Eirlys Category:Phaedrus Category:Bedo Category:Marcus